"I don't have time to practice yoga at home."
"I don't know what to practice at home."
"I don't know how to practice at home."
Yada, yada, yada. Excuses, excuses. We all have them. Even me.
You "practice" yoga every time you stand up straight, roll your shoulders back and down, or become aware of your breath. Don't beat yourself up if you don't actually strike a pose during the day. When you can, build in 30-60 minutes of practice in to your day. When you can't, work the practice in throughout the day.
The following is a basic sequence that can be practiced from start to finish in 30-60 minutes or broken up into small sequences practiced throughout the day.
First thing in the morning while you are still in your jammies:
Adho Mukha Virasana - downward facing hero's pose
Adho Mukha Svanasana - downward facing dog pose
Uttanasana - intense stretch or standing forward bend pose
Hold these poses from 1-3 minutes each
If you can, follow this practice with some standing poses. If you workout, run, or walk, or just plain have a busy morning every morning do these poses after:
Utthita Trikonasana - Utthita Parsvakonasana - Virabhadrasana II
Extended triangle - extended side angle - warrior II
or
Parsvottanasana - Prasarita Padottanasana
Intense side stretch - wide legged forward bend
or
Virabhadrasana I - Utkatasana
Warrior I - Fierce pose
Work up to holding each pose 30-60 seconds (Utkatasana repeat 3-4 times).
As you learn more sequences in class you will learn poses that are often taught together.
At work, every couple of hours, do some shoulder work:
Urdhva Hastasana - get your arms straight up over your head
Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana - upward bound hands pose (both sides)
Urdhva Namaskarasana - upward prayer pose
Gomukhasana (arms only) - cow face pose
Paschima Baddhanguliyasana - backward bound hands pose
Paschima Namaskarasana - backward prayer pose
Invite your co-workers to join you.
As soon as you get home or to the gym and it's time to cook dinner, workout, or herd children get in some easy backbends for a quick pick me up:
Chatushpadasana - four footed pose
Setubandha Sarvangasana - bridge pose supported
Just before you slip in to bed, practice your shoulder balance, corpse pose, and some pranayama:
Salamba Sarvangasana I - supported shoulder balance I
Savasana - corpse pose
Ujjayi II - normal inhale - long, slow exhale
The last two can even be practiced in your nice comfy bed.
References:
Your teachers
Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar
Gem for Women by Geeta S. Iyengar
Preliminary Course by Geeta S. Iyengar
www.yogajournal.com - not specific to the practice of Iyengar yoga but a good resource for quick pictures of poses and has a "build your own sequence" tool
